X-Champions Issues
Issue #25 - Spectacles
It's time for the big charity event for
the hungry. Sammy is a bit dispirited by ABC's involvement but attempts to
make the best of it. Backstage he mingles with Spectrum, Neumann, Wilting
Rose, and Flaming Carrot. Outside Rodin serves as a swan ice sculpture by
the benches used to feed the hungry. Sammy invites Flaming Carrot's
participation "as a symbol that eating vegetables is good for
you." This perplexes the Carrot a bit but they hit it off
anyway. Sammy goes on to tell him that "You were my inspiration when
I was young" (of course the Carrot is unaware Sammy is only 4 years old
now). In return Flaming Carrot invites Sammy to join him in fighting
monsters. As a reference comes up to Flaming Carrot having "deep
roots" in Detroit, Neumann looks down. As that's explained Neumann
brings up Dr. Heller. Flaming Carrot agrees he is a good man, but mentions
he's not keen on his taste in decor. Neumann's red eye glows and his head
moves to the side.
Sammy turns the subject to doing some
sort of super-stunt for the big show. Sammy brings up an eating contest
but no one else is interested. Everyone scratches their head as Flaming
Carrot takes leave to perform his beat poetry for the crowd. Wilting Rose
suggests a friendly "rumble" for the crowd. Spectrum is
uninterested; Neumann, even with explanation, is still not quite sure what this
means. But Sammy agrees to face Wilting Rose on stage so the plan
proceeds. Bob Rogers suggests some sort of force wall be put up to protect
the audience just in case something goes dangerously wrong. Spectrum
telepathically communicates with Rodin and he agrees to become a thin, very
strong sheet of ice blocking damage but transparent for the crowd.
A drum roll and a booming announcement
introduces Wilting Rose and Sammy, standing on opposite sides of the
stage. Wilting Rose, the heavy metal mistress, has her full battle gear,
with her shredding guitar and hyper-sonic amplifier. Sammy stands ready to
morph. She lets off a shrieking guitar noise that is directed at Sammy and
sounds unlike anything she's unleashed in a long time [GM rolled a "3"
for her "to hit"}. It instantly knocks Sammy out as it
penetrates his head, though it does no real harm. It would be a
short-lived battle except...
Neumann has stood ready to help his
friends. He lets loose with cables and wires that attempt to entangle
Wilting Rose but he misses. The cords dangle about the floor.
Startled, she turns but her composure is quickly regained and she is eager to
fight. As they start to spar Neumann inquires as to why she knocked out
Sammy. She explains it's for fun and motions at the cheering
audience. She also shouts out to Spectrum, sitting in the front row of the
audience, to take her on, but Suzanne is uninterested. Neumann attempts to
hit her again but misses. She strikes him with her guitar in a slicing
motion, causing no real damage but incidental parts go flying across the stage
and Neumann starts to rattle. She hits him again, causing more sparks and
flying debris, and mainly knocking him down. She attempts to pick him up
over her head but realizes he's too heavy for that. As she lets loose with
a last guitar low guitar roar which vibrates him and causes him to stop
processing, he simultaneously lets loose a blast of steam in her
direction. She coughs a bit but seems generally unfazed; however her
amplifier sparks and shuts down. Her desire to play "We are the
Champions" is thwarted but she makes the best of it giving the crowd a
rebel yell.
As the curtain closes she helps Neumann
back up and fiddles with his mechanisms, reviving him fully. She exclaims,
"You're some piece of work, fella!" Then she makes sure Sammy is
okay. He wakes up dazed, thinking no time has passed, and is ready to
spar! He's disappointed to learn the fight for him was over before it
began. She gets some high-grade oil, normally intended for her motorcycle,
from her large purse to spruce up Neumann, then heads off into the night, her
roaring motorcycle heard even deep within the building. At that point
Sammy hollers out, "Hey, don't run away, 2 out of 3!"
Sammy resolves to make the best of
things and appears to the crowd as they start to file out as a 12 foot tall
Elvis. It caps his sterling (other than the fight) performance for the
evening and the crowd is captivated. They beg for more, and Sammy gives
three encores. As he goes backstage for the last time, his girlfriend Jane
fawns all over him and presents him with a dumpster freshly repopulated from a
bakery. At the bottom is an odd, unidentifiable, but delicious (to Jane
and Sammy) layer of greasy organic waste, a delicacy for Sammy and Jane.
A week later Lisa Walters, in her
continuing series on the Justice Squad, interviews Spectrum. She asks her
what it's
like to be the only woman in the Justice Squad; Spectrum replies it
really doesn't feel that way at all given Sammy and Neumann don't have genders
per se. Walters inquires about Spectrum's being sighted with Nightshade
and attempts to generate gossip. Spectrum admits to some interest but
calls any relationship talk premature. Inevitably the subject of The
Captain comes up. Spectrum explains that he wanted to work more directly
with the government whereas the rest of the Justice Squad didn't, as well as her
concern that The Captain has become too extreme in his stance on the mutant
issue. That leads to a discussion of mutants in society and Magneto's
stance. Spectrum points out a long of wrong has been done on both sides
(government and the extremist mutant movement), and notes that Magneto is
"practically a terrorist." She is against the government's
hard-line actions. As the discussion turns more to Magneto personally
Spectrum responds she had met him prior to the incident in Los Angeles and he
seemed more reasonable then. She points out that the LA melee was
essentially accidental as they came across the scene by happenstance; she goes
on to paint the picture that the Justice Squad tried to calm the
situation. Walters asks if Spectrum is worried about reprisal to which she
replies that she is not worried and understands Magneto's stance, even while not
agreeing with is actions. Sammy sits by in the green room in awe of
Spectrum's smooth responses to Walters' questions.
Eliot Sihn meanwhile is preoccupied as
on July 31 Aela's and his new baby, a boy, is born a bit early. Throughout
August he remains a faithful father and husband, spending much of his time at
home tending to the wee one and providing all the medical care. The child
looks normal but by virtue of its parents has odd mutated patterns in its
DNA. Sihn spends some time determining that the baby is entirely healthy
and researching what abilities, latent or otherwise, he may have.
Wilson Fisk's (the Kingpin) trial begins
on August 12. Sammy wants to testify but is diplomatically told that the
prosecution does not want to possibly alienate the jury by putting a mutant on
the stand. Laughton takes the stand, and when asked why he was asked to
work with the Justice Squad, he simply responds, "I am the world's greatest
detective, therefore I was a natural." He outlines the methodology as
requested and how Fisk's influences were traced through the Tocci organization
and gambling rings in NY and Miami. He also mentions the holdings found
through a false company. As he's asked about the events at the Glitterati,
he refers to "that horrible bee creature!"
The defense pushes deeper into
Laughton's relationship with the Justice Squad at first, including some
"withdrawn" comments on the Justice Squad's work for Tocci (in
stopping Medusa and Shooter) and their "turnaround", but aborts that
and moves on to his method of investigation. Eventually they determine
that Laughton gathered sensitive information that pointed to criminal
activities, whether by Kingpin or others. In an attempt to box him into
the Fifth and attempt to limit his credibility, they ask him essentially if he
worked with the police (as required by law). For a time he eloquently
attempts to derail the defense and expounds on methods and the relevance thereof
to this case. But the judge directs him to respond directly, eventually
threatening contempt. Laughton decides the best course of action is to
reveal he informed the secretive WEB organization. This draws gasps in the
courtroom but leaves Laughton free and clear as well as credible. It will
however draw out the trial as the defense will subpoena the government
organization, potentially propelling the case into the Supreme Court given the
government's controversial secretive activities with vigilantes via federal
intelligence agencies. After court is adjourned for the day the
prosecution has an angry conversation with the Laughton as federal lawyers had
wished to keep WEB out of it other than as a coordinating part of a federal
force "responding to an emergency". Laughton attempts to explain
to those he considers mental midgets the superior position he took, though real
world politics remain foremost in their "puny" minds.
Covering the event among the reporter
pool is Sammy, whom Laughton spots as he's continually eating from a bag of
mallomars. His three-foot long baloney sandwich was confiscated before
going in the courtroom.
In a surprise twist the next day the
defense subpoenas Sammy to appear as a hostile witness on the 24th.
Laughton wants to, to the degree necessary, represent Sammy, but Suzanne takes
over; she requests Laughton let her know if he thinks of anything pertinent -
then adds, "and I'm sure you will". Only a moment later does she
realize she said aloud what she had intend to keep in her thoughts. Sammy
is extensively coached beforehand and as much as possible Spectrum keeps a
mindlink up but turns it off before he testifies in fear of
detection.
On the stand the defense, referring to
him as "Mr. Slime" asks about the Justice Squad's
association with Tocci, to which Sammy talks about getting a lot of good food
from him. Meanwhile Hamlet Laughton eats a big bavarian donut to keep
Sammy's attention. When asked about how they came to decide to go after
Fisk, Sammy is vague, referring to himself just believing he was guilty.
Then he refers to Fisk as "the Kingpin" which makes the defense
unhappy and leads to expected striking from the record. The defense lawyer
goes on to ask about who decides what in the Justice Squad, following up on
Sammy's "belief". Sammy replies, "I'm taking the Fifth -
what's that?" He also wants to know when lunch will be served.
As he repeats himself upon request and does want to know what he's pleading, the
courtroom is abuzz. The judge asks Palmer (along with whom Laughton wedges
his way in) to approach the bench. She satisfies him that Sammy was not
coached but was advised of certain areas. The judge already ascertains
Sammy's mental age is still young and lets it go. As Sammy is asked to
step down, he tells the judge that he is a "nice man" and invites him
out to eat sometime. The judge leans forward and explains carefully that
Sammy is not under any circumstance to speak to the jury or the man that Sammy
believes to be "bad", Fisk, might be set free. And so ends
Sammy's lesson in civics.
Around this time, in the wee hours of
the 26th, it is finally time for Neumann to perform the job as contracted by
Porky. He shows up at the docks, and is met by a man who says his name is,
"uh, Joe." Neumann asks Joe if the job is legal, and Joe says,
"ah, sure," hesitantly, to which Neumann simply responds "Very
well." During a brief nervous discussion Neumann is instructed to
move it briskly with no delay, as the contents radiate something dangerous to
people. As a foot-by-foot-by-foot metal box is lowered from a crane,
Neumann calls Laughton, his refrigerator-box mate whom he rests with, that he
will be busy doing a job and if "on patrol" (as Neumann still believes
Laughton must patrol as he does) Laughton needs help to just contact him.
Neumann explains he is "helping transport dangerous materials."
Laughton's curiosity is naturally aroused and he asks Neumann for more details,
then decides to get involved. He calls Sammy and Spectrum; Sammy gives him
a ride as a pterodactyl.
Awaiting the Justice Squad, he simply
stands at rest, holding the box. Joe notices this from the ship and
hollers at Neumann, "Hey!" Neumann simply remains still, his red
eye pulsing. Joe continues to shout, and then throws something small at
Neumann, making a pinging sound as it bounces off the robot. Finally
he goes back down to the dock and asks Neumann why he is waiting. Neumann
responds to Joe not to worry, that he has contacted the Justice Squad. He
explains, "when you contracted my services, you also contracted those of my
teammates, the Justice Squad." Joe then asks Neumann not to trouble
himself and just to put the box down and they'll pull it back up and be on their
way. Neumann responds, I must help." Joe stammers and then
rushes back to the ship. Neumann calls after him, "Good luck!"
Spectrum arrives first, asking Neumann
what is up. As Neumann tilts his head, eye pulsing, he explains the
box is dangerous and what he's been asked to do, she stands back and says,
"We better wait for Laughton to get here, I wouldn't want to make a
decision without him."
Shortly Laughton and Sammy arrive, Sammy
morphing from his pterodactyl shape to human just as he comes down so Laughton
can land gently. Laughton asks Neumann what the man looks like and Neumann
projects a holograph-like image of the man.
Sammy offers to go inside the box but
Laughton and Spectrum decide it still might be too dangerous for him. In
any case it's hermetically sealed and electronically locked. They suspect
radioactivity so Spectrum, the fastest flyer, rushes to Laughton Agency to pick
up a Geiger counter. Upon her return they detect only minimal radiation,
the sort you might find near a microwave. Sammy's infrared vision does
show a slight heat radiating from it.
The ship, a large ocean vessel, has cast
off but not quite gone yet. The Justice Squad proceeds to board, Sammy
morphs back into pterodactyl shape to give Laughton a ride as Neumann stretches
his way up and Spectrum flies. They go to the ship's cabin and are greeted
by someone who looks through a crack in the door. They ask for Joe; as he
realizes it's the Justice Squad he says, "sure," then slams the door
shut. They can hear scrambling as objects are put in front of the
door. Sammy reaches in and burns the lock open, then the boards shutting
the door off. They walk in as a few men flee through a back door.
Laughton glances at the ship's log and sees the ship just went from Hong Kong,
then picked up a package in Tokyo, then came straight to Detroit. Neumann
uses his radar sense and finds most of the men are right around the ship,
swimming to the docks as it had just cast off and the plank was raised.
They "rescue" the men, Neumann reaching into the sea from the ship and
scooping them up, Sammy flying down and grabbing others. Only a couple get
away.
They find Joe, who turns out to be the
captain. Joe explains that the box is filled with "Carpathium"
which Joe only knows to be dangerous but nothing more. Neumann, with his
programmed encyclopedic knowledge of inorganic chemistry, has heard something of
this and informs the team it is some sort of nearly-alchemical unstable bonding
of several elements, only theorized but said to have, if it could be created,
healing powers in small doses. He also indicates it is most likely a paste
of unnatural consistency. Joe explains what he does know; a woman named
Lucretia Johnson in Detroit commissioned the voyage among a few close associates
such as himself, and it was to be done in absolute secrecy. Spectrum
recalls hearing something of Lucretia from her time with Giles, though she
doesn't know any details other than she's a powerful mage-type known to be in
Detroit.
The Justice Squad goes on to see this
woman, going to the address, with Joe in tow, Neumann was given. Sammy
goes as a pterodactyl with Laughton and Joe riding, Spectrum flies alongside,
and Neumann stretches/leaps his way, the others a safe distance from the
box. At the door to a nondescript office building in downtown, they are
greeted by a man expectedly rushing out front; he's upset at the crowd but
resigned to it and tells them to hurry up with him. Laughton asks what his
name is but he doesn't answer, instead turning into a cat. The cat rushes
to the elevators and they follow. When the elevator arrives, the cat turns
back into a man, smiles, and presses the "5" button. As Laughton
asks his name again, he turns back into a cat. Before they leave the
elevator Neumann uses his powers to clean it completely of cat hair.
The elevator lets out into a Victorian
sort of drawing room! A very tall swami-looking fellow greets them and
leads them into a bedroom, also Victorian era-looking, in the center a four-post
bed with great curtains hiding a frail figure. A horribly musty odor fills
the room. They step forward see a woman who looks ghastly old. Her
skin is gray and stretched across her bones. Her hair is stark white and
so long it seems to cover the whole bed. Her fingernails reach several
inches from her bony fingers. This is Lucretia Johnson.
She wants access to the box and tells
them all to leave the room. Laughton is insistent on staying. Sammy
also wants to stay but she convinces him to leave, citing great danger to those
unprepared for it. He leaves, and Laughton turns to his crystal
form. The woman opens the box and a blinding light fills the room.
Wood seems to melt away. All the lights in the room burst. The woman
is transformed into a 20-year old blonde beauty, her hair long but not so
unnaturally so, simply below her shoulders. And Rodin turns into his
actual self (as seen in the notes post-issue 24), a void of darkness punctuated
by bright colored lights.
The Justice Squad is surprised to see
this new form, though they do not realize at first this is the "real"
Laughton. So they are more taken by the transformation to the woman, who
in turn is surprised at Laughton and comments, "Oh, I see now why you
stayed, you're one of them!"
But the questions fly on all
sides. Neumann firsts wants to know from the woman, "Was it a
paste?" He feels nearly emotional when she confirms his speculation
on its form. Lucretia turns to Spectrum and exclaims, "Oh my you're a
troubled soul!" Spectrum takes a swig from a flask she keeps on her
person. Lucretia then turns to Neumann and says, "You're a nice young
man." Sammy mentions he's hungry. Laughton. pulling himself
back into human form, wants to know how old she is. She asks him to show a
little consideration, that she's also hungry, and takes time to order dinner via
the swami-like assistant. Then she answers she's 341, and warns against
pursuing immortality, as she is now addicted to it. Sammy quotes from the
Outer Limits shows he's seen, nearly coming off as wise, if trite.
As food arrive and as Sammy's quotes wax
philosophic, they begin to discuss life and purpose. Neumann mentions his
purpose, "to help people" but also to seek his creator. Lucretia
thinks this is a noble goal and believes all people should do so. Sammy
expresses how he would never do such a thing as his creator wishes to harm
him. Lucretia is puzzled until he explains ABC. She goes on to
mention she once knew a robot, named Remover whose purpose was suitably to
remove things. Neumann's eyes glow a darker red in
interest.
Food arrives. Neumann looks at the
great spread slightly hunched over, then politely gathers food on a plate though
to no real purpose other than an attempt at social behavior. He puzzles
over an egg, rolling it on his plate. Lucretia marvels at Sammy's gusto
with food. Over food the idle conversation turns back to immortality,
Lucretia mentions experimentation with vampirism as a bad thing, which Spectrum
readily nods to. As they talk on the subject, Spectrum mentions that the
Slayer is in Detroit, slightly surprising the old mage.
Since the conversation has taken an
occult turn, Laughton decides to get to the subject he's been thinking of for
some time, starting in, "There's this book..." He asks Lucretia
about the Necronomicon and "a friend's" involvement in it. He
mentions Kietersling and in response Lucretia confirms suspicions that this is
Odin's, as in the Norse god's, recent identity, having surfaced in Germany and
spent time with the Nazis. Lucretia asks if the friend is mad, to
which Sammy responds, "He is a very angry man." She says madness
may weigh in his favor. Learning of his high intellect, she is unsure how
he might deal with it, and advises the Justice Squad members to be there for him
should need arise.
She takes the conversation in a whole
different turn, pining that she wants to go out, having been an invalid for so
long. It's too late to go to Crystal's, so they go to one of the regular
underground mutant bars. A giant very drunk eel-mutant, whose name as it
turns out is Eelman, approaches them and makes small talk, pleased to meet the
Justice Squad. Laughton remarks that the eel must be limited with no
opposable thumbs (his usual tactful self), which cools Eelman, but Sammy is
equally pleased to meet the mutant. Eelman offers up drinks for everyone
except Laughton. There are only two other patrons and Lucretia is bored,
wanting to dance, so they head out. Eelman attempts to tag along, all for
dancing, whooping out loud. But he staggers and falls just as they
exit. They gently place him in the sewer.
Suzanne, familiar with the rave scene
from hanging out with Buffy and her friends, helps Lucretia find a place but
then retires for the evening/morning, as it's nearly 4 AM. Laughton also
heads out, first giving Lucretia is business card (with the 900 number).
Neumann and Sammy stay to party though. As drinks and chemicals are
exchanged among the crowd, someone asks Neumann's desires. He simply wants
WD-40, and is luckily served. He opens a panel on his body and out comes a
shelf. The waitress puts the WD-40 on it, then it retracts. A loud
crunching sound is heard, and out pops the mangled and empty can. He is
considered the life of the party and joins in dancing, his mechanical elongating
body undulating mechanistically, Kraftwerk-like, to the music. His
industrial dance attracts quite a crowd as pistons and steam pulse.
Witnessing the light show, he mimics it and does one better, producing his own
holographic light show. Sammy jumps into a Travolta-looking shape and
dance, having just seen Saturday Night Fever. However, he isn't received
so well as that is apparently "out" these days at this club, the 70s
fad being passe. He asks to learn new moves, and his easy-going attitude
invites a bevy of teachers. Sammy is offered Ecstasy, and as the pusher
does his sell job, Sammy is convinced. But the pusher is put off when he
learns Sammy has no money and goes his own way. Both Neumann and Sammy
dance the wee hours away, learning quite a bit about certain human customs and
departing with the all-night ravers as the morning rush starts.
The morning of September 3rd Laughton
and Neumann (his refrigerator box mate) enters the lobby of his office to see
none other than Bud Girl sitting on the couch waiting for him. She invites
him to sit and of course he does. Neumann offers her a chair, though she's
already sitting. She demurs, but he holds it for her should she decide to
sit there. Her career has been going well and she's already moved up from
meteorologist to an "on-air personality". She tells Laughton
that Channel 7, her station, is covering the
opening of a new mall in the Renaissance Center, and she'd be delighted if the
Justice Squad would attend. He is immediately convinced. Neumann is
equally compelled. Suzanne, followed shortly by Sammy, enters the office
and sighs. Bud Girl's charms have no effect on her and she monitors the
situation closely. They move back into the office area to discuss the
details. Neumann fixes Bud Girl cappuccino, using his own unique
mechanical abilities; before she finishes the first he has another one
ready. Suzanne convinces Bud Girl to have Channel 7 link this to a charity
and raise money. Bud Girl isn't so sure that's a good idea as she wants it
to be "fun", not filled with "depressing Jerry's Kids", but
is eventually convinced (without resorting to mental powers) by Palmer, who
concedes the charity can still be very "fun". And Suzanne even
gets beauty tips from Bud Girl who makes rude comments about Suzanne's hair and
insists she go to Giorgio's and see the "wonderful gay man" who does
her hair. Suddenly Bud Girl starts developing a headache and decides it's
time to go...
After her departure the Justice Squad
entirely expects a trap but checks out the story and finds at least what Bud
Girl has said is true and even the mayor will be there. They resolve to go
if for no other reason than civic security. Later that day they get to see
Bud Girl on television discuss her "interview" with the Justice Squad
in which she quotes the absent Troll!
At the mall opening, the Justice Squad
spreads out a bit, fully expecting trouble. Spectrum browses a shop,
Laughton disguises himself as a Sikh and wanders about and his alter ego Rodin
is said to be an ice sculpture (where there really is one), and Sammy goes back
and forth to the food court (though that really isn't part of any 
specific
plan). As Laughton heads down the escalators from patrolling the second
floor, a villainous crew leaps to attack the Justice Squad. Neumann and
Sammy are "on display" talking with the mayor and Bud Girl as cameras
roll as Octal Fist, recently escaped, pops into existence while the Lizard King,
a giant humanoid lizard, leaps from a hiding place. All around Mover
Shaker, who moves through time and space and is in 16 places at once, appears.
From another hiding place, in the back, rushes in the Living Tongue, a 12' tall
sentient tongue, and Eyes. And Sammy has an odd feeling, like his muscles
can't quite be bent to his will (SPD drain), and he slows down.
The Living Tongue envelopes the reputed
Rodin ice sculpture, leaving a little space for Eyes to shoot into. Of
course it breaks to pieces, to Eyes' delight. Octal Fist grabs Sammy by
the throat, doing no real damage as he doesn't breathe through it, but holding
him while the Lizard King attacks. The Lizard King scratches at Sammy,
doing no serious bodily harm as his rubbery body moves with the blow, but
causing a shock to his system; as he does so, he bellows, "This is what you
get for facing Magneto!" Sammy attempts to strike back but misses the
wily Lizard. Almost all the Mover Shakers attempt to teleport Neumann into
the air, up through the open area surrounded by the second-floor balcony and
past the sky light but only a few can actually hit him, moving him not so far
that the elongating robot cannot ease his descent and suffer no harm.
Meanwhile a couple of the Mover Shaker beings start to attack Spectrum but she
mind controls one of them into thinking the other is his enemy. They turn
on each other, one teleporting the other to the ceiling and dropping him.
Laughton moves into position from the escalator.
Sammy's fist turns to a hammer as he pummels the Lizard King, knocking him
against a far wall and dazing him. Meanwhile Suzanne seeing through
Laughton's eyes enacts grabs hold of Eyes' mind and causes him to believe that
any and all ice left around is a living-until-entirely-crushed Rodin. So
Eyes maniacally attacks the fragments of ice. The Living Tongue grabs
Sammy, and Sammy discovers the tongue's squishy surface emits a painful acid
that eats into him, knocking him out. Meanwhile Neumann is grabbed again
by several of the Mover Shakers and is again tossed away despite having just
rejoined the fray. Octal Fist attempts to hit Laughton but misses, and
exhorts, to no avail, Eyes to stop attacking the bits of ice then is attacked
unexpectedly by the Living Tongue whom Spectrum commands mentally. The
Lizard King gets up and yells to Eyes to stop messing about with the ice bits
but to no avail; he moves on towards Spectrum, across and down a wide
hall.
Meanwhile, Eyes grabs a cup with ice in
it away from a fleeing bystander and smashes it. Bud Girl and the mayor
leap to safety behind a nearby kiosk.
Just as the Lizard King approaches
Spectrum, she flies up and away while commanding the Living Tongue, who has
knocked out Octal Fist, to go after the giant lizard mutant. The Lizard
King, who did not see the attack on Octal Fist, is surprised, and the two begin
a deadly wrestle. They remain preoccupied attacking each other, the Lizard
King attempting mainly to escape the entwinement of the giant tongue.
Laughton feels something odd emanating from someone who looks normal but must
not be, like his brain was almost "grabbed".
Back across the corridor Neumann grabs
the transformed Rodin, who is a giant cudgel, but is teleported away yet
again. He manages to return though as Spectrum moves to Sammy and
helps revive him. Spectrum also feels something like Laughton felt, coming
from the same person. She also starts to feel like Sammy did at the
beginning of the fight and slows down, but like Sammy has no idea where this is
coming from. Neumann gets in one mighty swing, pointing it at the man
causing the odd feeling along with a Mover Shaker standing next to him.
The cudgel lands with a mighty thud - then a sickening crush of bones is
heard. The man is apparently dead; Rodin realizes this and turns to
Laughton and stones the man to "save" him - at least this is what he
tells Neumann to ease his conscious. But he knows there is little or no
hope. And once again Neumann and Laughton are whisked away by the Mover
Shakers.
The Lizard King/Living Tongue duel
continues. The Lizard King twice shreds the Living Tongue badly, causing
it to spurt blood and receive great see-through holes, though the first time the
tongue recovers quickly enough to grab him again. But the second time
frees the Lizard King as the Living Tongue is nearly split into pieces.
The amazing tongue heals almost instantly though, with the Lizard King a bit far
too reach. The Lizard King vows vengeance on the Justice Squad in
Magneto's name again.
Laughton and Neumann return again.
This time Laughton turns into a strange dark cloud of a thick sand-like
substance. Inside the cloud nothing can be seen (or heard or mentally
sensed) except by sonar, which
Sammy has. The people in the cloud, a few Mover Shakers, experience
strange nightmarish hallucinations and collapse from fear. Sammy,
awakening with Spectrum's help, uses his unique physiology to recover and leaps
into the cloud to gain a bit more time in recovering. He tries one bit of
acid-spray on the Living Tongue but finds it just washes off him.
Meanwhile Spectrum is whisked away by the Mover Shakers; she was moved far
enough that she was just above the third floor glass dome, but it's already
broken from one of Neumann and Laughton's falls, so she simply flies through it
without worry of breaking it.
It's mop-up time. Spectrum and
Sammy knock out the Lizard King and Spectrum zaps the Living Tongue's puny mind,
dropping him instantly. They grab several of the fleeing Mover Shakers,
though six of them make it away, no doubt to plague the Justice Squad
later. They interrogate the Lizard King briefly; he maintains he planned
the strike as part of an orchestrated/understood move with Magneto, but Spectrum
reads his mind and determines he led this rag-tag bunch of mutants on his own as
much to get Magneto's attention as it was in favor of the mutant
cause.
One of the crowd members, the only one
who did not run that far from the scene during the battle, approaches Laughton
and shakes his hand, thanking the Justice Squad for taking care of things.
The heroes are immediately suspicious, but beyond that Laughton's great mind
detects that the man is lying from the fluctuating beating of the capillaries in
his hands and the slight, almost undetectable, quiver in his voice and the
group's mind link lets them all know. Laughton holds onto the man's hand
and does not release it while Spectrum simply reaches out and mentally knocks
him out. It turns out the man is a mutant known as Cripper and was
responsible for the slowing down of Sammy and Spectrum.
Nothing can be done for the mutant
accidentally killed by Neumann and Rodin. He was a mutant known as
Brainswapper, who had the ability to switch brains with people
somehow.
[Game Mechanics - Points Awarded...
Thoroughly Defeated by a Vastly Superior
Opponent - +3.75 RP for Sammy, +.25 XP for Sammy, +5 RP for Neumann, +.5 XP for
Neumann
Collecting over $250,000/equivalent for
charity - +22.5 RP for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, +.75 XP for Rodin, Sammy,
Spectrum, +30 RP for Neumann, +1.5 XP for Neumann
Participation in Kingpin trial, Winning
Against a Marginally Inferior Opponent - +1.875 RP for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum,
+.25 XP for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum
Winning Against a Roughly Equal Opponent
for handling Lucretia case well - +5.625 RP for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, +.375 XP
for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum; +7.5 RP for Neumann, +.75 XP for Neumann
Thoroughly Defeating a Marginally
Inferior Opponent at the mall - +3.75 RP for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, +.25 XP for
Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, +5 RP for Neumann, +.5 XP for Neumann
6 hours play in character - +4.5 RP for
Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, +1.5 XP for Rodin, Sammy, Spectrum, +6 RP for Neumann,
+3 XP for Neumann
Totals:
Neumann 53.5 RP, 6.25 XP
Rodin 38.25 RP, 3.125 XP
Sammy 42 RP, 3.375 XP
Spectrum 38.25 RP, 3.125 XP
Totals to Date:
Neumann 185.5 RPs, 29.3 XPs
Rodin 1104.125 RPs, 103.575 XPs
Sammy the Slime 1042.625 RPs, 99.6875 XPs
Spectrum 921.75 RPs, 94.75 XPs
Troll 1036.625 RPs, 106 XPs]